by "BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
Published 09/15/2017 at 16:16
by "BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
Published 09/15/2017 at 16:16
Tags: spit6
STARS: 3
Need to sort out a strap and a vent tube through the floor, but that’s easy enough. Next up, rad mounts for the Golf mk1 alloy rad that’s just arrived :)
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
09/15/2017 at 16:26, STARS: 0
Having replaced/handled a Golf Mk. 1 radiator before, I can see why the form factor was a good one for this. Is it a normal fit for a Spit or one you stumbled on?
The Ranchero is to use a pair of aluminum tractor radiators...
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/15/2017 at 16:34, STARS: 0
A mk1 Golf rad and a Honda Civic rad are relatively common swaps for spits/gt6s (the honda one in particular is almost a carbon copy of the GT6 one). Helps that they’re ~£150 rather than £350 for a genuine spit/gt6 one in alloy...
Pair of radiators? In the wings? Was it the mini that had that, i can’t remember...
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
09/15/2017 at 16:39, STARS: 1
Yep. Think of like a Mini x2. One each side, electric fans ex-Range Rover. To fit in ahead of the shock towers they had to be quite narrow. Dumps the heat *out* of the engine bay into the wheel wells, is the thought - and accommodates the engine being so very far back without needing some sort of new radiator support against the engine.
"RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht" (ramblininexile)
09/15/2017 at 16:41, STARS: 0
Also, I’ve noticed that there are a wealth of aftermarket bespoke swaps for an MGB rad due to the V8, but I imagine much less so with the Spit..
"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
09/15/2017 at 17:12, STARS: 0
Wow, somebody has found a new working pace! Great job man!
Also nice to have all the stuff above the rear axle, will definitely help a lot with the weight distribution, right?
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/15/2017 at 17:40, STARS: 1
Either that or i’ve reached the point where lots of impressive-looking things don’t take much time ;)
Yeah the battery in the boot is solely weight distribution related :) this alongside the fibreglass bonnet is doing well over half of the total redistribution effort.
I’m not sure on corner weighting yet though, so i’m sizing up a set of 4 300kg scales so i can fart about getting each side of the car as close to equal as possible too :)
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/15/2017 at 17:46, STARS: 0
I think you’re onto something there. I remember reading that roughly 80% of underbonnet heat is wash from the radiator, hence why i’ll be ducting mine to the other side of my engine from the intake :)
Also yeah you tend to get a lot more stuff in general for Bs. Something i hope to take advantage of with the Baja B!
"BvdV - The Dutch Engineer" (dutchengineer)
09/15/2017 at 19:09, STARS: 0
Haha, I find the whole project impressive ;)
Good job on the weight distribution. It really sounds like this is going to be one of the best handling spits out there!
"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
09/17/2017 at 07:29, STARS: 0
WTF?! I’m busy at work for a month, and when I check in to see what’s happening, you’re not welding anymore?! Congrats :)
"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
09/17/2017 at 07:35, STARS: 0
https://racemagazine.com.au/cars/budget-diy-corner-weight-scales
Obviously will sacrifice precision by multiplying up the errors as well.
Another option is to build whiffletrees to connect two or more sets of 150kg bathroom scales at each corner.
But they way I’d expect from you is to build a derrick, hang the entire car off it, and adjust the weights until it hangs level :)
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/17/2017 at 18:40, STARS: 0
Neat! That article’s really clever :) I was looking into stuff like that a year or so ago (including some convoluted mechanism for hanging a car’s wheel from a 500kg hanging scale which is inexplicably cheap), but the price of 300kg scales has basically plummeted since then. When I was last looking they were about £120 each but now I could conceivably get all 4 for £120. I was thinking of making a bridge between two of them for cars that have more than 600kg on a single axle like the Alfa and Jag and such :)
Also, ‘whiffletrees’ is the single best word I’ve heard this year. Made all the better in that it’s a genuine word for something and not a nonsense like ‘widget’ or ‘doohickey’.
Also also, if you google ‘whiffletree’ hoping for google to come to the rescue, the description on the little dictionary thing is ‘a swingletree’.
Gee. Thanks google. That’s cleared that right up.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/17/2017 at 18:45, STARS: 0
Yeah it seems to be coming along really quickly now :) I think I’ve come across a load of jobs that don’t require a day of head-scratching and a week of fabrication to have something to show for it :)
Not quite done welding just yet though. I keep finding new bits and pieces that need sorting. It’s radiator mounts at the moment (post just going up for that), then bonnet mounts, bit more rust repair I missed last time, re-clearancing the angle drive on the gearbox, re-doing the fuel tubes in the tank and probably a whole load of little niggling bits that I’ll find on the way.
Still. Light at the end of the tunnel!
"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
09/24/2017 at 08:36, STARS: 0
Heh, whiffletree is an excellent word - not sure I’ve ever had opportunity to use it in a sentence before :)
It’s also a very clever device.
The problem with scales is the accuracy and precision. Not sure how close you want to get things, though - I think setting things up with your weight in the driver’s seat and no passenger might be going too far, but it depends how often you’ll take passengers.
"davedave1111" (davedave1111)
09/24/2017 at 08:39, STARS: 0
“I keep finding new bits and pieces that need sorting.”
Bah, I’ve been restoring a house for the last month. Originally thought there was a week or so’s work painting the outside, every time we thought we must have found all the rot there was another bit hiding, waiting to bite us.
Finally we were convinced we were done with it all, and then when we thought there was just one tiny little hole left to fill, we discovered the entire door-sill was hollowed out by rot and there was another day’s work to sort it.
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/24/2017 at 19:05, STARS: 0
Oof not fun. Definitely sounds familiar :S
Sometimes it’s just good to move onto something else, rather than just endlessly chasing rust or rot around.
All done? Restoring a house sounds like a massive job! What’s it for? Habitation? Profit? Shits and giggles?
"BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires" (biturbo228)
09/24/2017 at 19:08, STARS: 1
Haha I’m just waiting for my golden moment in scrabble now ;)
Yeah we’re not overly concerned with pinpoint accuracy. So long as they’re within a couple of kilos of each other (the scales’ measurement that is) that should be enough for us. As you say it’ll change with passengers and fuel load anyway, but getting it somewhere near optimum is good. Especially seeing as at the moment my mate’s MX-5 (now with a turbo!) is noticeably lower on one side so there must be something up...